Highlights from history: August 12

Highlights from major events that happened around the world on this day in history.

1909: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

In 1909, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home to the Indianapolis 500, first opened.

AP

1937: Hugo Black

In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated Hugo Black to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Charles Gorry

1939: "The Wizard of Oz"

In 1939, the MGM movie musical "The Wizard of Oz," starring Judy Garland, had its world premiere at the Strand Theater in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, three days before opening in Hollywood.

AP

1944: Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.

In 1944, during World War II, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., eldest son of Joseph and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, was killed with his co-pilot when their explosives-laden Navy plane blew up over England.

AP

1953: Soviet Union H-Bomb

In 1953, the Soviet Union conducted a secret test of its first hydrogen bomb.

STF

1981: IBM personal computer

In 1981, IBM introduced its first personal computer, the model 5150, at a press conference in New York.

BOB JORDAN

1985: Japan Airline Crash

In 1985, the world's worst single-aircraft disaster occurred as a crippled Japan Airlines Boeing 747 on a domestic flight crashed into a mountain, killing 520 people. (Four people survived.)

Katsumi Kasahara

1992: John Cage

In 1992, avant-garde composer John Cage died in New York at age 79.

Julia Malakie

2000: Kursk

In 2000, the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk and its 118-man crew were lost during naval exercises in the Barents Sea.

Anonymous

2004: James E. McGreevey

In 2004, New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey announced his resignation and acknowledged that he'd had an extramarital affair with another man.

TONY KURDZUK

2009: Les Paul

Ten years ago: Guitar virtuoso Les Paul died in White Plains, New York, at 94.

RICHARD DREW

2013: Whitey Bulger

In 2013, James "Whitey" Bulger, the feared Boston mob boss who became one of the nation's most-wanted fugitives, was convicted in a string of 11 killings and dozens of other gangland crimes, many of them committed while he was said to be an FBI informant. (Bulger was sentenced to life; he was fatally beaten at a West Virginia prison in 2018, hours after being transferred from a facility in Florida.)

Jane Flavell Collins

2014: Lauren Bacall

Five years ago: Lauren Bacall, 89, the slinky, sultry-voiced actress who created on-screen magic with Humphrey Bogart in "To Have and Have Not" and "The Big Sleep" and off-screen magic in one of Hollywood's most storied marriages, died in New York.

Vince Bucci

2014: Los Angeles Clippers

Five years ago: Steve Ballmer officially became the new owner of the Los Angeles Clippers; the sale closed after a California court confirmed the authority of Shelly Sterling, on behalf of the Sterling Family Trust, to sell the franchise. (Her husband, Donald Sterling, had unsuccessfully fought the sale of the team he owned since 1981 in court.)

Jae C. Hong

2017: Heather Heyer

On August 12, 2017, a car plowed into a crowd of people peacefully protesting a white nationalist rally in the Virginia college town of Charlottesville, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and hurting more than a dozen others. (The attacker, James Alex Fields, was sentenced to life in prison on 29 federal hate crime charges, and life plus 419 years on state charges.) President Donald Trump condemned what he called an "egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides;" Democrats and some Republicans called on him to specifically denounce white supremacy. Two Virginia state policemen were killed in a helicopter crash while monitoring the Charlottesville protests.

Steve Helber

2018: Charlottesville White House Rally

One year ago: Fewer than two dozen white nationalists showed up for a rally near the White House, where thousands of counter-demonstrators had gathered to send a message that racism is unwelcome.

Jacquelyn Martin

2018: Parker Solar Probe

One year ago: A NASA spacecraft, the Parker Solar Probe, lifted off on a mission intended to bring it within 3.8 million miles of the surface of the sun. (The craft made its first close approach, to within 15 million miles, just two and a-half months after liftoff.)

Steve Gribben

2018: PGA Championship

One year ago: Brooks Koepka wins the PGA Championship in St. Louis; Tiger Woods finished second after a final-round score of 64.

(0) comments

Welcome to the discussion.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language.PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated.Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything.Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person.Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts.Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.